South Carolina city council approves atheist to deliver invocation

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) The Charleston City Council decided to open a meeting with an atheist's invocation.

Herb Silverman, a mathematics instructor at the College of Charleston and president of the Secular Humanists of the Lowcountry, asked to give the invocation in the interest of diversity.

The definition of an invocation is to call for with fervent desire,'' Silverman said, so he sees it as giving advice to other human beings.''

The (Charleston) Post and Courier reported his invocation would say what divides us is not so much our religious differences in this diverse country but the degree of commitment we have to equal freedom of conscience for all people.''